Trudy Gold
Eastern European Jews: The Beginnings

Trudy Gold | Eastern European Jews The Beginnings | 05.03.22

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• Well, good evening everybody, and welcome. As you realised from William’s lecture, and also, of course, from Sir Malcolm Rifkind’s lecture, we’re beginning our three month journey into Eastern Europe. We thought that we should give it a lot of time because, as Wendy said, we go a little too fast anyway. And something else. Of course, it’s headline news, and I really felt from William’s lecture and from Sir Malcolm’s lecture, you begin to at least get a reasonable understanding of the issues in Eastern Europe. And not only that, those of you who are listening, whether you have American accents, English accents, Scottish accents, or Canadian, or Australian, I know we have a few Australian people on board, or those of you who live in Israel, the point is, three quarters of you, who were born Jewish, actually traced your origins to the settlement that we are going to be talking about. And of course it was, up until the Second World War, the most important settlement in the whole of the Jewish world. It was the heartland.

If you think of cities such as Warsaw, which was 33% Jewish, which had 40 Jewish newspapers, which had a Yiddish theatre, which later on had Yiddish cinema. It was every range of political and religious affiliation. It was really the heartland. And something else, I really felt that by going in depth into Eastern Europe, we can really look at the complexity of Jewish history. And I’ve alluded to this many, many times. This rather strange people, numerically small, who managed to survive from country to country, coming into contact with different civilizations, different peoples for 2000 years, many of them certainly before the modern period, thinking of themselves as a nation in exile. Is it this that accounts for the fluidity, the flexibility, the mobility of our people? That doesn’t really seem to change. We always seem to be at the forefront of new movements. And does it go back to that time where we had to be completely adaptable? Simon Dubnow, one of my favourite Jewish historians, he made a brilliant analysis of the Jews.

He said we attract and we repel. We go our own way, taking from the surrounding civilizations, giving back. We are, as it were, as he said, the eternal people. And the other issue that is quite painful to deal with is that we’re going to find that ironically, paganism was much easier for the Jewish community than was Christianity. And there’s a very cynical quote by Israel Zangwill, Israel Zangwill, the great Jewish writer, a close compatriot of the great Theodor Herzl, who of course wrote that very important play, The Melting-Pot. He coined the phrase about America. He actually said, when you scratch the Christian, you find the pagan spoiled. Now, let me be very careful here. Christianity is a religion of love. It’s a religion of morality. However, both Christianity and to a lesser extent, Islam really do have a problem with the Jews. And this is going to come up so much as we begin to wend our way through your Eastern European history. So if you don’t mind, Judi, could we please have the first slide? Yes.

Now the Radhanites, this is a fascinating story. The Radhanites were merchants. They operated between the fifth century and the year 1000 of the common era. It was really, the Radhanites were Jewish merchants, and they were the people who, after the rise of Islam, they were the people who operated being between the Christian and the Muslim worlds. That, you’ve got to remember there being many trade routes previously established under the Roman Empire. And those great trade routes continue to function largely through their efforts. The network covered most of Europe, North Africa, the Middle East. And you can see from that how it’s going to touch the lands of Rus, the land of the Khazars, which I’ll be talking about soon. Just trace those trade routes, the Karaite movements. You see other trade routes, of course, and where do they go? They go all the way to China. Now, most scholars believe that the Radhanites, it’s a name that comes from Persian, “Rah,” which means “way” or “the path,” “Dān,” one who knows.

So the Radhanites were the people who knew the way. Other historians, like Cecil Roth, claim that they actually started in the Rhône Valley in France, One of the problems we have with this period of history, today, we have too many sources. And the question is, what is the validity of sources? And of course, William touched on this yesterday. When you are dealing with this period of history, you don’t have enough sources. So, if you like, you are creating almost a mosaic. It’s like an adventure story. Filling in the gaps, filling in the pattern. Now there are activities, in the end were documented, by a man called Ibn Khordadbeh, who was the chief of police and the spymaster under the Abbasid Caliphate, who had their empire centred on Baghdad. And he very much talks about them. He wrote a marvellous book in 870 called Roads and Kingdoms. So, let’s go back.

We’re going back to a time when you can have a, just have a look at that map. If you look at the map where you deal with Eastern Europe, you can see Rus, you can see the Slavic peoples, you can see various kingdoms, the Khazars. You are dealing with a time of different tribes. Remember, the old Roman empire has been smashed. And you have the rise of the Islamic Empire, which is now stretched all the way into Al-Andalus, Do you see that? The Frankish empire… And this is the time when the trade routes in the main, particularly those to the east through Rus, they’re going to stop in Kiev, are in fact run by Jews. And in his description of them, and I’m going to read you the description, he describes them as very sophisticated, multilingual. And there are four major trade routes. And what did they take on the trade routes? Just imagine how dangerous it would’ve been. You know, you’re talking about the Great Caravan series and what they tended to go for was small bulk, so that you can carry a lot, and high demand. And what would they be?

The spices, the perfumes, silks, jewellery from India, oil incense, and what did they bring from Europe? What did Europe have to offer the people of the East? We can see what the people of the East offered Europe. Steel weapons, furs, that would have come from Rus and from the land of the Poles, Polanie, plain dwellers. And unfortunately for the modern mind and modern sensibility, tragically, they also dealt in slaves. And basically, they function as a go-between. They keep alive the lines of communication between the lands of the old Roman Empire and the far East. And as a result of the revenue they brought, Jewish merchants, they’re going to have significant privileges. Certainly under the early Carolingian dynasty and throughout the Muslim world, they upset the church a great deal because these people are so useful that in the main, they are protected by the various peoples they come into contact with. And they’re the first to establish this network that goes all the way from Western Europe, as I said, all the way to China.

And it’s assessed, they brought paper making. Joseph of Spain is actually credited with introducing Arabic numerals from India to Europe. They also, and this will interest those of you who are in the banking business, they use letters of credit. Because what they could rely on in these various trade routes. And if you look at the dots, what do you see? You see areas where there were Jewish settlements, and they may have played a role in something I’m going to come onto later, the Khazaria kingdom. They were also involved in very early Jewish settlement in Eastern Europe, in Central Asia, and in China. And I must, of course, give you a heads up about China, because at the end of the silk route, of course, was Kaifeng. Kaifeng in the year 1000, which is about the time the Radhanites fall apart as a group, and I’ll explain why in a minute, Kaifeng had a population of a million. To give you a kind of comparison, London had a capital of 40,000 mainly wooden houses.

Whereas, of course, in China, you have an incredible dynasty, the Tang dynasty, and it was such a beautiful city. It was a cosmopolitan city, it was an open trading city. And another lesson of Jewish history. There was a large Jewish settlement in the 8th century, and then again in the 10th century. What happened to them? China was very good to the Jews, and they absorbed into the population. We know that from Yehuda ben Meir of Mainz. He names both Przemyśl and Kiev as trading sites along the Radhanite route. And another Jewish trader, Itzhak Dalbello, wrote that he travelled with the Radhanite merchants through the land of Poland, or Polanie. Now, various things happen that make the Radhanites come to an end. The first is the fall of the Tang Dynasty in China, which led to huge upheaval, and also the destruction of the kingdom of Khazaria, which I’ll talk about in a minute. It leads to widespread chaos. And what that meant was, the trade routes became unsafe. These trade routes were very…

When you have a stable country, these trade routes are very useful. Be they pagan chieftains or be they sophisticated courts. Why are they useful? Because the merchants paid a fee to the lords of the areas for them to be able to pass through. But when society became unstable, the trade routes become very unstable. And this is really the end of the Radhanites. You know, it’s fascinating. If you think about when any Jew prospers, when do Jews prosper in, even today, when there is a liberal, stable society? That’s when Jews prosper, when society becomes fractured, when, and this as good then, as today, as it was then. And when society is beset by all sorts of problems and issues. And here you have the fall of dynasties, which led to huge instability. and of course a lot of infighting, which meant situations of war, which meant there wasn’t enough food go around.

Plus, of course the rise of the power of the church, it all becomes very, very unstable. And added to that was the rise of the Italian city states, who viewed the Radhanites as competitors. It really did affect the economy of Europe when it all disappeared because, why, think about the spices that disappeared from European tables. And Jews at that period had a virtual monopoly on the spice trade. So if you look at history, it’s fascinating. I’m now going to read you the text of Ibn Khordadbeh. As I said, he was the head of Baghdad intelligence service. He says of them, these merchants speak Arabic, Persian, Roman, the Frank, Spanish and Slav languages. They journey from west to east, from east to west, partly on land, partly by sea. They transport from the west eunuchs, female slaves, boys, brocades, castor oil, other furs, swords. They take ship from Firanja on the Western Sea. They make for Egypt. There, they load their goods on on camelback and go by land to al-Kolzum, which is Suez, they sail to al-Jar and al-Jeddah. They go to India and China.

On their return from China, they carry back musk, aloes, camphor, cinnamon, and other projects of Eastern countries to al-Kolzum where they embark on the Western sea. Some make sail for Constantinople, some go to the palaces of the kings of the Franks. Some go to the East. Sometimes these Jew merchants, when embarking from the land of the Frank on the Western Sea, make for Antioch, and then by land to the banks of the Euphrates, where they arrive after three days march, they then embark on the Euphrates and reach Baghdad, where they sail down the Tigris to al-Obolla. Here they sail to Oman, Sindh, Hind, and China. So they’re talking about the land roots and the sea roots. And you can see from the, if you have a look at the map very carefully, you can see that land route that goes from the kingdom of the Khazars all the way through.

So you are looking at an extraordinary group of people. And the other thing that they had going for them, of course, was they had co-religionists. Look at the little dots, and you’ll see they are the Jewish settlements. They had co-religionists, so many co-religionists on the way. And what did that mean to start with? They had a lot of languages, but it meant that they had partners from city to city to city. The Jew is international. And consequently, you’ve got this situation where the merchants, it lasts for five centuries. The merchants are protected in the various cities. They have a common language, and they have a common interest. So I just thought we’d talk about the Radhanites because they are, to start with, I think they’re fascinating anyway, and later on in the course, at some stage, we must talk about the Jews of China. And I just find it fascinating. It’s sort of, Jewish history to me is always inside out history. And now if we could have the next slide, if you don’t mind. Yes, that is Hasdai Ibn Shaprut. Hasdai Ibn Shaprut. He is a wealthy, he comes from a wealthy background.

He was in fact a very important Jewish scholar, a doctor. And he was also foreign minister to a man called Abd al-Rahman III, who was the caliph of Córdoba. I may have said this to you before when we looked at Spain, if you haven’t visited Córdoba, Córdoba, one of the greatest buildings in the world, the Mezquita, it’s now a church, but it was once a glorious mosque, one of the most beautiful, architectural buildings I have ever seen in my life. And he was the advisor. He really ran the foreign affairs of Córdoba. He was the confidant, he was the counsellor. And he was also in control of the customs, the ship-dues, the dues from the ships, into the Port of Córdoba. He was the man who arranged alliances between various countries, an extraordinary scholar. And after the death of Abd al-Rahman, he was also the advisor to his son al-Hakam. He was also the head of the Jewish community. And he heard of this state in Khazaria, and he sent a letter to King Joseph of the Khazars.

That’s how we know, that’s how we get a lot of our knowledge on it. He was a great poet. He studied grammar. He was, what, look, he is really the Jewish version of the Renaissance man. He’s a Jewish scholar. Those of you who have been to Córdoba will know that the area the Jews lived in is very near the Great Mosque and near what was once the great palace. So this man is second only to the Caliph. Another interesting rule of Jewish history. When a country is stable economically, politically, and the usefulness of the Jew is realised, and this is of course known as the golden age of Spanish Jewry. There’s a lot to say about that. But I think this is it. And of course there are, It’s not unbreakable, it’s not always as it seems. But the point is, I think what we can say in this period of stability, and there have been others, and we’re going to see others in Eastern Europe, when a kingdom flourishes and felt secure, that is when the Jews flourish.

And this was the heart of it under this extraordinary caliph and Hasdai Ibn Shaprut, not only is he a foreign minister, he’s a great Jewish scholar, he is head of the Jewish community. He could walk both worlds. And it’s to him that we know, we actually have a lot of information about the Khazars. And also, I should mention, there were other very interesting Jewish travellers who bring back news of what’s going on in the East. There’s another one called Abraham Ben Jacob or Ibrahim ibn Yaqub. He lived in Córdoba, and we’re not sure whether he converted to Islam or not, but we know he was born a Jew. And he presents the memoirs of his travels to al-Hakam. And he doesn’t just talk about the Jews, he talks about, he gives back descriptions of the Vikings, the fortifications of Mecklenburg castle. And he is the first person to actually mention Prague in any of the Chronicles. And he of course is of absolute value to all mediaeval historians. Can we have a look at the map of Khazaria, if you don’t mind, Judi?

Here you have it. Khazaria, the mystery of Khazaria. Well, it was one of the largest states in mediaeval Eurasia. Do you see it? Do you see Kiev on the edge of, you see the river Dnieper, that’s what William was talking about yesterday. It’s so important to understand the history of these peoples, to try and understand what is going on in Russia, to try and understand what is going on in the Ukraine. In periods of insecurity and horror, people go back to that time in history when they think their country was great. And as far as Kiev is concerned, it’s going to be a very important city for the Rus, later on the Russians. It’s an important city today for the Ukrainians. And there you see it, on the border of this strange kingdom, Khazaria. And you can see it’s the land of the Ukrainian steppes. Ukraine, by the way, means borderlands, to the Urals from the Middle Volga to Crimea.

It’s believed that the Khazarians originally were of Turkey origin. The movement of the tribes from the Turkish empire. Now import… What we do know, and we don’t know that much about it, is that important sections of its ruling elite converted to Judaism in the mid to late eighth century. It becomes a very, very wealthy empire. Why? Because they take 10% of the value of any goods that pass through their lands. They certainly had a lot of dealings with the Radhanites, and there are theories that it was the Radhanites who converted them to Judaism, and they protected the caravans. They also had, their centre was a very cosmopolitan trading centre. And we also know that it had a Christian, a Muslim, pagan, and a Jewish communities. We also know that, with the exception of the rulers, the rulers had a palace. there were municipal buildings, but everybody else lived in tents. It was very noted for its religious toleration.

Now we’ve never been able to establish the date of the conversions. And it seems that it was only the upper echelons of Khazarian society that did convert to Judaism. Now why did they choose Judaism? And, important, that the bulk, bulk of the nomads who lived in the Khazarian kingdom remained pagan. Why? Because they didn’t… You’ve got to remember the real power now is the rise of Islam. Do they want to become Christian? Do they want to become Muslim? There’s lots of legends that they chose Judaism because it seemed to be the most sensible religion. All we know is that the upper classes at a certain time converted to Judaism, not necessarily the Judaism that we could recognise today, because what we do know, they had a duality of monarchy. There was the king, and also the sacred kingship that the high priest and the king ruled as dual monarchs.

We also know that in 965, it is attacked by Rus. Now of course, Arthur Koestler went… And that’s the end of the Khazarian kingdom, Now what happened to the people? Arthur Koestler has put forward the theory that this is really an important stage in the creation of Eastern European Jewry, and in fact, most Eastern European Jews are descended from the Khazars. Most historians absolutely discount this. They say that perhaps some of the Khazars, some of the Eastern European Jews are descended from Khazars. But what is the language of Eastern European Jewry? It’s Yiddish, the various forms of Yiddish, but Yiddish. And that comes from the German lands. And there’s no example in history where a minority imposes a language. So basically, it’s a lovely story, and we know that the aristocracy converted to Judaism, and then the kingdom is destroyed. And, certainly, did some of them eventually remain Jewish and come later on further west into Western, down into what becomes the land of the Poles? Who knows?

But the point is, I just wanted to bring those two rather romantic stories to your attention. I’m sure many of you know about it. But it also gives you a notion of the kind of trades and professions that the Jews are engaged in, and also this extraordinary interlocking network of traders, and also the great insecurity of the times for everyone, but also the insecurity of the Jew from country to country to country. Now can we move on, please? Thank you. And a few words about Kievan Rus’ now. You saw the city that, of course, was on the edge of Khazaria. Now, the legends of Kiev. It was founded by Eastern Slavs in the fifth century. Some western historians speculate it was founded in fact by the Khazars or the Magyars from Hungary. Kiev is a Turkish name. It means riverbank settlement. But the Chronicles, which are the main source of information, writes of this area that they lived with a local pagan ruler and paid tribute to the Khazars. It’s an outpost, in the ninth century, it’s definitely an outpost of the Khazarian Empire.

In 882, this is where we have dear old Putin, it’s conquered by Oleg of Novgorod. William talked to you about Novgorod yesterday. You have Kiev, and Kyiv, and you have Novgorod, the two great cities of Rus. In 1018, it’s captured by the Poles. It comes back to the Rus and it’s the capital of Kievan Rus’ until the Mongol invasions. But the backwards and forwards been the Rus, and of course the Poles. In 988, there’s a mass baptism to Orthodox Christianity. And it’s also, Kiev is also, it’s not just the Poles and the Rus. Rus at this stage is a series of warring tribes, warring princetons. And it’s the centre of warfare between the Rus princes. And of course, as Williams told you yesterday, On December, 1240, the Mongols are going to actually take this whole area.

Later on, it’s the Lithuanians who are going to conquer the city. Now this is important. The Lithuanians are going to take the city in the 1320s. So just to point that out before I turn to Poland, the issue, if you are looking at romantic origins of history, who does Kiev belong to? It belongs first to the Rus;, Khazaria’s finished, remember. Then it’s taken by the Lithuanians, and then after the union of Lithuania and Poland, it becomes part of the Polish crown. And it remains so until Poland, much of Poland, is taken over by the Russian empire, what William was talking about yesterday. Now what is interesting is that there’s a large long Jewish history in Kiev, and the first mention of Jews in Kiev, remember it’s on the edge of Khazaria, it was part of the Radhanite trade route, it’s a letter written from Jews from Cairo. And it’s the oldest document to actually mention the name of the city.

Remember, Jews were literate, they’re communicating with each other. We know that travellers such as Benjamin of Tudela mentioned the city as one with a very large Jewish population. But of course, during the Mongol invasion, the city was devastated. And it’s not revived until it’s acquired by the Polish Lithuanian crown. And of course it then becomes a very, very important city for that part of the world, but also for the Jewish community. Now, so, having dealt with a period with primitive warlike peoples all fighting for territory, can we now please look at the lands of the Piasts? The next map. The next map, please. Yes. This is the Piast dynasty. Now, Mieszko I whose dates are 930 to 992, he managed to unite all those warring tribes, and he was the founder of the first independent Polish state, the Duchy of Poland. And can we come, if you just have a look at that map, you will see that it’s pretty well the map of Poland to this day. Can we have a look at the next? Yes.

Mieszko is described around 966 by Abraham ben Jacob, I mentioned him before, Ibrahim ben Yaqub who visited Prague, and he also presents Mieszco as one of the four Slavic kings reigning, quote, “over a vast northern area.” He converts to Christianity. The pagan Mieszco makes Poland into a Christian country. Why does he do this? Well, he’d married a daughter of the king of Bohemia, who was already a Christian, a woman called Dobrava, and she, according to the story, persuaded him to convert. But you often, this is very much part of Chronicles, whether it’s true or not, it’s probably far more likely to be pragmatic. There was a very important priestly cast. By converting, he removes the pagan priestly cast. And also, Poland, the lands of the Poles were often under attack from the Christianized, warlike Germans, and it would stop them attacking because it was a pagan state. He is the man credited with bringing together all the tribes and unifying Poland. And his baptism, this is incredibly important when you’re thinking about Eastern Europe today.

It brings Poland into mainstream Europe and into the political structure of Roman Catholic Europe. And he leaves his to sons an area twice that which he had inherited. Significant additions include Kraków. Lesser Poland, Kraków, it’s very important this. And the other point to make is the conversion in Kiev was to Orthodox Christianity. Don’t forget that Ukraine is itself divided religiously. To the east, it’s orthodox. To the west, they turn towards Poland. Anyway, before, this is just a little one of the asides of history that I’ve always enjoyed. Before he became a Christian, he had seven wives, all of which he had to divorce. And then he married the Czech Princess, and by her had a son, Boleslaw the Brave. And it is he who captures Kiev. In fact, I think we have a picture of him.

Yes, Boleslaw known as Boleslaw the Brave. He was the Polish king who captures Kiev. And according to legend, he chipped his sole sword on the golden Gate in Kiev. And according to the legend, this gave the sword a jagged edge. And this later would become the coronation sword of the kings of Poland. Now in his reign, we know that you begin to see a few Jews coming in, but the first settlement is mentioned in 1085 by a Jewish scholar, Yehuda HaKohen. He talks about the city of Przemyśl, which was the capital of the Piast dynasty. Beg your pardon, Gniezno was the capital of the Piast dynasty. And the Jews living there were in fact quite wealthy, but it’s in Przemyśl, which is just outside Gniezno, that you have settlement. The first extensive settlement is at the time of the first crusade. Boleslaw III actually encourages the Jews to settle During the 12th century, we know they are in charge of the coinage in Poland.

Now, why on earth would a Polish king encourage Jews in? And next time I’m going to be talking about the events happening in Western Europe that are going to make the Jews want to move. And of course it’s the first crusade, 1095, 1096, when the armies of Christendom go on the march against Islam, they want to capture Jerusalem. And on that march, that terrible, terrible march to the glory of Christianity, thousands of Jews are murdered in the Rhineland in particular. Why go all the way to Jerusalem to kill infidels, Muslims when you have them in your midst? And here you have a king. How Christian is he? Because what he does is, he is more of a pragmatic ruler, and he encourages Jews in. Why? Because he already knows them as traders. He already knows them as merchants. He knows them as literate. And they are in charge of the coinage of Poland. They are mint masters. So consequently, if we begin to have these people into our country, they are going to enrich our country. And in fact, it’s in August 12… Can we see the next slide? Slide please.

Of course, in 1241, you have the terrible Mongol invasion, which is going to destroy all these centres. And after the Mongol invasions, there’s going to be more impetus on Poland, this vast country, to try and bring in as many German settlers, as many Jewish settlers as possible. The Mongol crusade was absolutely devastating of life, of property. And the country is depopulated. So in a basic peasant society with a large nobility, what do you need in, you need to create in, you need to create a class that can run the economy. So German traders are invited in from the various German lands. Remember, Germany is not properly unified until the 19th century. So we talk about the German lands, and of course, the Jews. And it’s Boleslaw the Pious, the Duke of Kalisz, who… Can we see the next slide, please? He actually issues a charter about how one deals with the Jews. It is 36 different articles in which he, it’s actually a charter of protection. It’s known as the Jewish Magna Carta. And if ever you go to Warsaw, there is an extraordinary Jewish museum in Warsaw. It’s called POLIN. “Here shall we rest.” And despite that there are many now, as a museum, it’s one of the best I have ever been to in its telling the story of the Jews.

So, and they have this facsimile of the charter in the museum. Now, for example, Jews can judge their own cases if it’s not involving the state. If a Christian harms a Jew, there’s a fine to the state. If he kills a Jew, all his possessions are forfeited to the state. And Jewish oaths are just as valid as are Christian oaths. So already there is a charter. And then, can we see the next slide please? Yes. I want to talk about Kraków. Kraków of course is now part of the kingdom of Poland. It’s again, it was a Jewish settlement. This is again from the museum. You will see there is a map of Kraków, and then you see Kazimierz. In 1334, one of the most remarkable kings in Polish history is going to actually create a Jewish town. And Kraków is later on going to become the seat of the kings of Poland. And of course, the king I’m going to talk about is Kazimierz III. Now the first written Jewish record, again, it’s Ibrahim Ben Yaqub, who describes a notable trading centre based on Wawel Hill.

It’s incorporated into the Piast dynasty, stone buildings are constructed, including the castle and the cathedral. Can we have a look at the Wawel castle please? The next slide, if you don’t mind, Judi. Yeah, that’s the Wawel castle. It’s an extraordinary building. I’ve been to Kraków many, many times and spent a lot of time in Kazimierz. And of course Wawel Castle for me was ex… During the Nazi years, it was the home of Frank, one of the most ghastly of all the Nazi leaders, who was executed, of course at Nuremberg. And the pollution of the Wawel castle, To the Poles, it’s their tragedy, to the Jews, it’s their tragedy. And will the two ever ever meet? But let’s, of course you have a period of some Jewish settlement. The Mongol invasions nearly destroyed the whole city. But by 1364, it again rises to prominence because of Casimir Jagiello, the founder of the Jagiellonian dynasty. And can we please see his picture?

Casimir the great, he inherits the kingdom weakened by war. He is one of the great heroes of Poland. He reforms the army, he increases the size of the land, he reforms the judicial system. He introduced a legal code, the Polish, he’s known as the Polish Justinian. And of course he, founds the Jagiellonian University. And it’s the second in Europe after the Charles University in Prague. And I have been many times to the Jagiellonian University, where today they have a large Jewish study centre. And I remember being there with Felik Sharf when they opened the first Polish Jewish Festival in Kraków. And it was absolutely extraordinary because in the Jagiellonian University where in Felek’s day there’d been a numerous classes, so he couldn’t take his PhD there, that’s what saved his life.

We were sitting in the courtyard with all the Polish dignitaries, and what was absolutely fascinating, we were listening to cantorial music. And I should mention that in my travels, I’ve also worked in Dnipropetrovsk and Mariupol. I’ve worked in many of the cities that we’re talking about today. And it’s extraordinary to see what’s going on today. And going back to my own experience of teaching Poles about Jews, and I must mention something about Ukraine, that when we were in Dnipro, I had a translator who had previously been a gen… a colonel in the Russian army. Dnipro remember is Eastern Ukraine. And of course, William told you yesterday that in the war they fought the great patriotic war. Remember? And of course we took a trip to Babi Yar. He knew nothing about Jewish history, and this big strong man who now had to be employed as a translator, he broke when he saw Babi Yar.

So the complications of being a Jew, but also the complications of nationalism in Eastern Europe. So, this is the man who inherits a very great kingdom. And not only that, he confirms all the privileges granted to the Jews by Boleslaw. And something else very important. He prohibited the kidnapping of Jewish children for baptism. The Christian Church believed that any soul is damned unless they’re baptised. So in a way, to them it was a good deed. And he inflicted very heavy penalties for desecrating Jewish cemeteries. He was the people of the, he was very much the king of the people. But he was also, he was also very much a protector of the Jews. And it was he who built the Wawel castle. And he also issued privileges to the Jews in Tyczyn, which is a very, very interesting settlement. Now, Casimir, he… can we come to the next slide please? Aha.

The legend of Esterka. He encouraged more and more Jews into his country. Now look at his dates. Look at when he is in power. 1333 to 1370. Take yourselves back to European history. Take yourselves back to the expulsions from England, which I’m going to talk about on Thursday. The expulsions from France, or the ravages in the Rhineland. Here’s the man at a time when the church is triumphant, the Pope is trying to usurp power from his secular rulers. The rumour, story, legend, that this king had a mistress, the beautiful Esther, Esterka. It’s very much like the Purim story. The story is, and this is also from the Poland magazine, no, sorry, museum, Esterka so entranced the king, the story goes, she had two daughters by him and two sons. She was allowed to bring the girls up as Jews. The sons of course went to the court and became Christians. But the story is, it was she who persuaded the king to let Jews into his kingdom in large numbers.

Now, whether that’s true or not, who knows? But the point is what is certainly true, that he encourages Jewish settlement. And then we have to move on because we now have to look at the end of his dynasty, 1385. Can we see the next slide please? There you have the Jagellonian University. It’s an amazing building. Can I now see Jadwiga? This is Jadwiga of Poland, the beautiful young princess. The last of the succession. Because ironically, Casimir didn’t have any sons succeed him. He had illegitimate sons, he didn’t have legitimate sons. Jadwiga of Poland. She is surrounded by very strong warring uncles and nobles. She needs a consort. She comes to the throne when she is 10 years old. Who would she marry? And let me just talk a little bit more about her. She was a very, very pious Catholic. She only lives till 1399. She was born in 1374. She dies very young. She dies in childbirth. She has been made a saint in the Catholic church. She died in childbirth after 10 years, considering she married a man 40 years older than herself. and she was 10 when she married him. She was given to huge works of charity, incredibly pious.

And in fact, it was in 1997 that her canonization by Pope John II, he praised at her sarcophagus. She’s also revered for being a great cultural figure. And who was it she married? Let’s see him. Cause this is really the beginnings of the Polish-Lithuanian crown. That is Wladyslaw Jagiello. My pronunciation is really bad. We’re not sure of his dates. He was born either in 1352 or 1362. He dies in 1434. He was a Lithuanian pagan ruler, a very, very strong man. And he marries the queen of Poland. And as a result of that union, a union is created, and eventually, that union is going to be cemented in 1569 into the union of Poland and Lithuania. Now, this great pagan king, we need to talk a little bit about it because I think it really gets you into the world we come from.

And I’m going to start with the words of St. Bernard of Clairvaux, killing for Christ was “malecide,” not homicide. Extermination of injustice. To kill a pagan is to win glory since it gives glory to Christ. Such a they who God chooses himself and gathers from him the furthest ends of the earth, servants from amongst the bravest to God, watchfully and grace faithfully his sceptre and the temple of Solomon, sword in hand, ready for battle. I’m sure many of you know that orders were created, like the Teutonic Knights, to actually look after the roots of pilgrims. The Teutonic Nights were an order that was founded in 1226. After the fall of Acre, they were out of a job. Prince Andrew of Hungary was worried about Eastern Transylvania, which was ruled by heathen tribespeople, and he gave it to the order.

They set, they pacified it, they settled it with German colonists, but they become too powerful, so they are evicted. It’s at this stage that the Pope gives them leeway to start a holy war against the pagans of Livonia, which is Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania. And in 1201, they found Riga at the mouth of the river Dvina, and the master of the Teutonic Knights becomes bishop of Riga. Now, why am I telling you all this? Because it’s all going to fit together. Now, they also went to war against a group called the Prūsai who inhabited the land, which is going to become Prussia. They were Baltic people of the forests, and they came together under a pagan prince who in the Chronicles is referred to as the Lord of Lithuania. They were very warlike. They worshipped idols. They buried their animals alive with the, when a ruler died, they buried him on his horse, strapped to his horse with all the animals, they killed off the sick, the lame, they were a warlike tribe. And the war, what you have is the war between the Teutonic knights and the tribes. Then, of course the Mongol hoards.

Now the battle between the the Teutonic orders and the pagans go on and on. But in 1386, this man converts to Christianity to marry Queen Jadwiga. And he’s crowned Wladyslaw III of Poland and Lithuania. The Lithuanians worshipped the holy fire. They were the last country in Europe to officially become Christian, Catholic. The Teutonic Knights claim that they are still in fact heathen, or worse still, Orthodox schismatics, and they point to the fact that his uncle, Grand Duke Algirdis had been cremated with his horse in the forest. And as late as 1413, a French visitor notes that tribesmen still burned their dead on oak pyres within their sacred grave. So I’ve visited strange places in Lithuania, where, I’m where I’ve seen images of the Virgin Mary as a straw goddess. Pagan, pagan, pagan.

Anyway, all these raids and and attacks are going to smoulder until finally, Wladyslaw who is now, remember, the Christian King of Poland, married to that very young girl. And his cousin Vytautas who is the grand Duke of Lithuania. They’re always quarrelling with each other. There’s still all this in-tribal fighting. They assemble 150,000 troops. Everyone they can assemble to fight the Teutonic Knights. And the two armies, this is where we’re coming full circle, meet at Tannenberg on the 15th of July, 1410. And in the end, although they might be… At the beginning, you see, the knights managed to smash the left wing of the Czech. And the Czechs and the Lithuanians are also fighting. But the Poles, the Poles and the Lithuanians are fighting together.

And it really is the end of the Lithuanian crusade. And it’s important because of the battle of Tannenberg. Can we see the… because it’s also known as the Battle of Grunwald. Can we please see? There were two, there were little villages on Prussian territory. Grunwald, Tannenberg. Now this is where you really come to “Who are the heroes?” The Germans saw the Teutonic Knights as heroes who brought Christianity and civilization to the East. In August, 1914, the Germans won a battle against the Russians on the site, the Battle of Tannenberg. They framed it as revenge. The Tannenberg Memorial becomes the tomb of their national hero, Von Hindenburg. The Nazis later exploited it.

This is on the first day of the Warsaw uprising, Himmler to Hitler: “After five, six weeks we shall leave. But by then, Warsaw, the head, the capital, the intelligence of this former 17 million Polish people will be extinguished. This Volk that has blocked our way east for 700 years has stood in our way since the first battle of Tannenberg. Now Russia, due to the participation of leaders from Smolensk, two tribes from Smolensk, saw the battle as a victory of the Polish Lithuanian Russian coalition against the invading Germans. In Soviet hagiography, it starred as an ethnic struggle between the Slavs and the Germans. It’s the mediaeval counterpoint to Stalingrad. 2014, Russian military historical society stated, "The Russian troops and their allies defeated the German mights in the battle of Grunwald.”

In fact, there is no evidence that the Duchy of Moscow was involved, but it’s irrelevant. In 2017, billboards appeared in Russian cities attributing the victory of Grunwald to the Russians. And another battle I need to bring to your attention. There have been a previous battle against the Teutonic Knights Alexander Nevsky. He was mentioned yesterday, but of course by by William. Prince of Novgorod, key figure in mediaeval Rus history, and his forces defeat the German Teutonic Knights on the Battle of the Ice. See the film Alexander Nevsky. It’s wonderful. In the 2021 Moscow Mayday Parade, soldiers received the order of Alexander Nevsky on the 800th anniversary of his birth. And my last comment actually, about Jews settling in Poland. Now of course, when Poland Lithuania are unified, it’s very important because these charters are extended to Jews of Lithuania. And for our South Africans listening, of course this is, becomes, the centre. 80% of South African Jewry is, of course, descended from Lithuanian Jewry.

But I should point out my last comment. When Casimir is reiterating the charter and is actually inviting Jews in, this is what his bishop Olesnicki, the bishop of Kraków has to say. He’s a very important religious and political figure. He had fought under King Wladyslaw III, and he was the first Pole to be made a cardinal. He was violently anti-Jewish. And what he has to say, he says, let me just find it. It’s important. He warns the king. He says to him, be careful. You are letting all these, you are letting all these aliens, ll these Jews into Poland. And it’s going to be very bad for the Polish state because Poland has only just become Christianized. Don’t do it. But the king realised that he’s a secular ruler too, and he realised the importance of the Jews in creating a sound economy. So what I’ve tried to do, and I hope as as William said, we’re dealing with one of the most complicated areas, I’ve tried to set the Jewish population within the melee and the mess that is Eastern Europe. So Judi, thank you so much. Will you just quickly show them Olesnicki’s face? Yeah, there. Okay, there you are. Here he is. Unpleasant booking character, eh?

Anyway, let’s have a look at the questions, and thank you all very much.

Q&A and Comments

I saw what happened with the Russian foreign Minister. Yes. Yeah. Bernard is saying, Rabbi Louis Rabinowitz wrote a book on the Radhanites called Jewish Merchant Adventurers.

Q: Could you please repeat the name of the book about Jewish trade routes? A: It’s, Bernard Kotto is saying it’s called Jewish Merchant Adventurers.

Yes. This is from Stephen. The political insecurity of the trade route from the East. Probably one reason why the spice trade was mainly by sea about the Cape and didn’t have to pay any fees for right of passage. Yes. And of course later on, the Cape of Good Hope is going to become an important trading post for the Dutch East India company.

Q: What was the relationship between the Khazars and the Mongols? A: They just fought each other, I’m afraid. The Mongols came from the East.

Q: Is there a relationship between Khazaria and Kazakhstan? A: Not as far as I know, Susan.

Yes, Gloria, Khazaria’s converts are known as the 13th tribe in that book by Arthur Koestler. Yeah, the existence of Khazaria itself is a subject of controversy. I think there’s enough evidence. We know the kingdom existed. There’s no, we do know that. The existence is.. No, no, there are letters of people who did visit. It was destroyed. The Khazaria kingdom was destroyed by the Rus first.

This is from Rose. Thank you. If not for those brave men and women of the IDF, we would be today without hope, may their memories be a blessing. Yes. It’s interesting. It’s so important to commemorate and, oh, I don’t know, the more one thinks about this kind of history and the powerlessness of the Jew… Well, I’m not going to go any further on that. I think you know what I think.

Q: Do you perhaps know what modern DNA research reveals about the origin of Eastern European Jews? A: It’d be interesting to know whether they that connects with the Radhonites, wouldn’t it just?

A genetic, this is from Michael, a genetic contribution for Far East into Ashkenazi Jews by the ancient silk route. Yeah. Can you imagine how interesting it would’ve been to do that silk route? And of course they needed protection from the various merchants along the way. It’s confusing with the places under which countries they’re ruled by. Yes, of course it is. Rabbi… Oh, my brain is not operating properly today. There’s a very interesting rabbi that I knew. Unfortunately he’s passed away. And he said, I lived in five different countries, but I never moved. Betty Lowenstein. The POLIN was curated by the brainchild of Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett. Yes, I know her, Betty, that’s a very good idea. Michael’s saying, what a magic carpet ride. Yes, it is a magic carpet ride, isn’t it? I find this period so interesting.

Q: Who, when was the battle of Grunwald painted? A: I’d have to go back to look it up. But it’s painted by many, many people. You see, it’s a German… It’s so important in German history, in Russian history, in Polish history, in Lithuanian history. And another issue on the Ukraine.

Q: When does Ukraine become a national entity? A: It’s so complicated. That’s why we are taking three months.

This is from Jackie. I remember seeing the film Alexander Nevsky, in particular, the Battle on the Ice. The film was shot in summer, and they had to import tonnes of salt to simulate the snow. The film is stupendous. Yes, Jackie. In fact, I believe that Professor Pima is going to deal with the film Alexander Nevsky later on in the course because it is absolutely amazing. And don’t forget, Eisenstein made that film in 1938, the Forces of Rus against the Teutonic Knights. It was a propaganda film. But then in 1939 of course you had this, the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. So they had to stop showing it.

Q: Ah, are the Teutonic Knights and the Knights Templar different? A: Yes, they are. But they’re, look, they’ve, they were set up by different orders. I’ll be dealing with the Knights Templars on Thursday, actually, when I deal with Philip the Fair. And basically, they were set up to protect the pilgrims on their way to Jerusalem.

Yes, you should watch the movie Alexander Nevsky. Anything by Eisenstein is amazing. Watch October. Look, I’ve been to Odessa, I’ve taught in Odessa, and it’s an extraordinary city. And remember Odessa was created by Catherine the Great, a Russian Czarina created Odessa from an old Turkish fort.

Q: How do you deal with being Jewish, living as a Jew today, after teaching how other Jews were devastated in history? A: Well, it’s a huge point you’ve made and a very important point. Look, from my point of view, we have had the tragic history, but then the history of the world is pretty tragic. And I see our history also as one of extraordinary survival. Yes, the losses have been incalculable, but we’re still here, and we still go on attracting, repelling. The best thing we can hope for is economic, if we wish to live in the diaspora, is economic and political stability again, Because that’s when we survive. Okay. It’s a complication and, it’s, we will do more on Jewish identity. I think, as you can see, we are bringing more and more of it into the lectures.

Jewish male DNA is not much different from Palestinian, other Middle Eastern males, female Jews. No, I, I cannot comment on that. It’s an interesting… it’s interesting. I don’t know enough. That’s fascinate… This is from Robert. My grandparents came from the Pale in 1900. The family motto was based on my grandfather’s saying, upon seeing the Statue of Liberty, goodbye, continent of misery, it proves his point into the 21st century. Yes, yes. But, but, but, but. Dare I say, This is America the beacon of light. We dreamt it could be. I’m very worried about that decision of the Supreme Court. Yes, Jill? Of course it was Hugo Gryn, thank you so much. Yes, this is Valerie commenting on the scene of the Teutonic Knights. It is amazing. I think that’s it, Judi.

• [Judi] Thanks, Trudy. Don’t forget we have Ambassador Dennis Ross in about 50 minutes, five zero minutes.

• Okay.

• [Judi] So we’ll see.

• So thank you Jude, and goodbye everyone. And I will see you on Thursday. God bless.

• [Judi] Thank you. Bye-bye.

• [Trudy] Bye.